Buyers boycotted the weekly tea auction in Bangladesh on Tuesday in protest against the imposition of a new tax by the government, brokers and traders said. "Buyers refrained from participating in the auction in protest over a newly imposed tax at source at 5 percent on the price of tea at the auctions," a broker said.
This tax is in addition to a 17 percent tax that buyers currently pay. More than 1.5 million kg of tea was on offer at the auction in Chittagong port city but there was no buyers, said an official at the National Brokers Limited, the largest tea broking firm in the country. "All the teas remained unsold." "Buyers decided to stay out and await further clarification on the newly imposed tax," the broking firm said in a statement. The average price of Bangladeshi teas edged higher to 161.46 taka ($2.1) a kg at last week's auction after falling continuously over the previous four weeks.